With Season 2 kicking off and the beginning of the Tekken World Tour proper across the nook, 2025 seems prefer it’s going to be one other superb yr for followers of Bandai Namco’s legendary Tekken collection. As one of many earliest preventing video games on the unique PlayStation, Tekken has a singular hyperlink to the consoles, with the collection evolving its gameplay and narrative alongside the platforms. Let’s have a look again on the saga of the Mishima household and all of the havoc they’ve prompted all through the years for PlayStation gamers.
Bloodline beginnings
The unique Tekken was one of many first preventing video games to debut on the unique PlayStation, launching in early 1995 in Japan and in fall elsewhere. Apart from introducing the diabolical Mishima household and establishing most of the collection’ base mechanics, such because the four-attack-button management scheme, Tekken additionally set a brand new excessive watermark for future house ports. Up till this level, gamers had been used to house ports of arcade video games compromising for weaker {hardware} with downgraded visuals and sound and lacking content material. Nevertheless, since Tekken’s arcade launch was on superior {hardware} similar to the PlayStation, the port was arcade good. However Namco went the additional mile and added content material not within the unique: Ending motion pictures, playable sub-boss characters, even a hidden unlockable character who would play a really massive position in future video games–that you simply’d have to grasp Galaga as the sport loaded to find.
Tekken 2, which got here to arcades in late 1995 shocked gamers by shifting the main target to the deposed patriarch and former villain of the unique Tekken, Heihachi Mishima, whereas additionally bringing in recent faces Jun and Lei. It additionally launched a wealth of further characters that unlocked over time, encouraging gamers to return again and check out newly-debuted characters. In 1996, Namco introduced the sport to PlayStation with a port that was a marked enchancment. Tekken 2’s PlayStation-exclusive CG intro film and endings had been beautiful and established the collection’ fame for high-quality cutscenes. It additionally added new gameplay modes: Crew Battle, Time Assault, Survival Mode, and a Observe Mode.
For a lot of followers, Tekken 3 was their introduction to the collection. It was each massively widespread in arcades and a best-selling smash hit worldwide when it debuted on PlayStation in 1998. Shifting the story forward 20 years, the mantle of main man switched to Jin Kazama, the son of Kazuya and Jun, and lots of returning characters had been both older (although not at all times wiser) or changed by a successor. New characters had been launched that might rapidly develop into fan favorites going forwards, together with Hwoarang, Bryan, Eddy, and Xiaoyu. To raised benefit from the 3D arenas, Tekken 3 added sidestep dodges for all characters to make use of. The PlayStation model added two gameplay modes: The sidescrolling beat-em-up model Tekken Power, and beloved social gathering favourite Tekken Ball, in addition to further characters: Anna Williams, Dr. Bosconovich, and Tekken’s first-ever visitor character, the tiny dinosaur Gon.
Vengeance, powered by Emotion Engines
When it got here time to debut the PlayStation 2, it felt pure {that a} Tekken title would launch alongside it. Tekken Tag Match got here to the console in 2000 with massively improved visuals over its arcade counterpart, showcasing the visible constancy that gamers may come to count on from the PS2. TTT modified up fight the formulation: moderately than enjoying one character, you’d kind a crew of two fighters and be capable to swap between them in battle. The roster was additionally considerably expanded to include a number of characters from throughout the collection, together with pre-story-timeskip characters. Lastly, we acquired one other wild mini-game within the type of Tekken Bowl.
Tekken 4 would emerge a bit over a yr after TTT’s PS2 debut, reintroducing Kazuya to the story and altering gameplay up fairly a bit. Beforehand, all phases in Tekken had been “infinite” phases with no set boundaries. Tekken 4 switched issues up by introducing phases with uneven floor, partitions, and different obstacles–which might bestow additional injury and combo alternatives when opponents had been slammed in opposition to them. Motion was additionally adjusted, altering some widespread motion methods seen in T3 and TTT. Tekken 4 additionally emphasised the story to a larger diploma than earlier video games: console additions had been a full-fledged Story Mode in addition to a tremendously expanded Tekken Power sub-game.
It will take just a few extra years earlier than Tekken 5 would step into the ring. Selecting up immediately the place Tekken 4 left off, with Heihachi Mishima seemingly useless and Jin’s satan aspect extra outstanding, Tekken 5 would develop into a fan favourite. Namco dialed again a number of the motion and stage design adjustments of Tekken 4 in response to participant suggestions. Asuka, Feng, and Raven joined the roster, together with the power to customise characters with beauty gadgets earned and acquired in-game. The unique Tekken 5 would see a PS2 port, the place the boss Jinpachi was made playable and Jin Kazama’s wrestle took middle stage within the action-based, story-driven Satan Inside mode–together with playable ports of the arcade Tekken 1, 2, and three. This wouldn’t be the final we’d see of Tekken 5, nonetheless.
Devils rising from a CELL
A 2006 arcade revision of Tekken 5, Darkish Resurrection, would introduce gamers to combatants Lili and Dragunov, change up some visuals, and additional fine-tune the gameplay. The primary port of Darkish Resurrection would really come to the PSP in mid-2006, bringing with it the brand new Tekken Dojo mode, which let gamers share AI-controlled “ghosts” of their gameplay on-line for others to obtain and battle in opposition to. Whereas the sport was properly obtained on PSP, gamers nonetheless needed a console model, so some months later T5DR was made a downloadable recreation on the PlayStation Community. An replace would observe in mid-2007 permitting for on-line matches to be performed. To this present day, T5DR is without doubt one of the most beloved Tekken titles amongst followers.
Later that yr, Tekken 6 would emerge in arcades, introducing new faces Bob, Zafina, Leo, and Miguel. Issues had been now getting wildly out of hand among the many Mishimas, with Jin and Kazuya each in charge of huge firms waging all-out-war in opposition to one another and Heihachi unaccounted for. Bloodline Revolt, a late 2008 replace, would additional complicate the household wrestle by introducing Heihachi’s forgotten son Lars and weapon-wielding mecha-maiden Alisa to fight. Gameplay additions embody the Rage mechanic–the place gamers deal extra injury when at low life–in addition to the combo-extending Sure system and interactive background components like breakable partitions and flooring.
The PS3 model, based mostly closely on Bloodline Revolt, launched in 2009 and featured the largest story mode but within the type of Situation Marketing campaign. It adopted the duo of Lars and Alisa as they lead a band of rebels in opposition to the Tekken Power and the Mishima Zaibatsu. Tekken 6 additionally launched on the PSP, and whereas it lacked the Situation Marketing campaign, it did supply a number of the finest visuals on the platform and ad-hoc multiplayer.
It will be just a few years earlier than Tekken’s return, and within the meantime, Bandai-Namco launched Tekken Hybrid in 2011. This set provided an HD remaster of Tekken Tag Match with an unique CG movie, Tekken: Blood Vengeance, and a demo of the then-new arcade title Tekken Tag Match 2. True to its title, TTT2 introduced again the tag-match gameplay and expanded the selectable roster. The PS3 port, which launched in late 2012, added a number of legacy characters, a brand new stage and music monitor from famed musician Snoop Dogg, CG ending cinematics for the entire forged, and a few further forged members and character variants.
One other fascinating spin-off emerged after TTT2: Tekken Revolution, a free-to-play model of Tekken targeted on on-line matches. By enjoying, gamers may earn in-game forex to unlock additional characters, in addition to use earned Ability Factors to reinforce character attributes. Tekken Revolution obtained frequent updates so as to add characters and gameplay options all through its life, finally ending service in 2017.
The wrestle continues
Tekken 7 took its time coming to the PlayStation 4, lastly reaching gamers in 2017, two years after its arcade launch. Throughout that point, arcade Tekken 7 obtained updates–together with Fated Retribution, which famously introduced Avenue Fighter’s Akuma into the roster. He wasn’t alone, nonetheless–Fortunate Chloe, Josie, Katarina, Claudio, and Shaheen all joined the fray as properly, alongside a number of new phases and system adjustments. Bearing in mind a number of the suggestions from Tekken Revolution, T6’s bounds had been adjusted and lowered, being supplanted by new screw combo starters. The Rage system was additional developed as properly, creating new Rage Drive and Rage Artwork abilities that could possibly be used at low well being–however solely as soon as per spherical, and at the price of Rage’s injury increase.
Upon reaching the PS4, Tekken 7 obtained a console-exclusive, prolonged story mode–however, maybe extra importantly, it was given a full slate of DLC updates for years afterwards, tweaking character abilities and including loads of new phases, music, and characters over time. Apart from re-introducing previous favorites disregarded of the unique roster, the Tekken 7 DLC additionally introduced in new characters Leroy and Lidia–and, most memorably, a number of further shock visitor characters: Geese Howard from Deadly Fury, Noctis from Closing Fantasy XV, and Neegan from The Strolling Lifeless.
As Tekken 8 marked its first anniversary on PS5 this previous January, followers can stay up for loads of additional surprises. Season 2 of DLC guarantees that much more new, beloved, and surprising characters will likely be becoming a member of the roster, and the newest free story replace leaves off on a cliffhanger that guarantees but extra high-stakes inter-family drama between the Mishimas sooner or later.
